pumpkin crazy!

Well, my favorite month is here yet again. October is by far the best month in the year. Warm days, cool nights, pumpkins, apple cider, rosy cheeks, spiced everything, Trader Joes pumpkinpalooza...by far my favorite hands DOWN!!

We have yet to go to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin, but we did venture up to Skytop Apple orchard at the end of last month to see what it had to offer. Overall, it was fun. Great area for the kids to play and stay occupied, pick your own apples, etc. And then there was the donut line.........little did i know that this donut line would take a good 45 minutes to get through. Therefore, i bought a dozen of them. Can't say that i regret it either. They were delicious. The whole place was crazy busy, though. I miss Evans Orchard back in Kentucky. It was fun AND calm. And organized. We will probably try to go somewhere else for the pumpkin hunt.

On a similar note, I get to go on Judah's first field trip with him. They are going to the pumpkin patch. (yes, there will be lots of visits there this year!!) But I am excited because i get to chaperone!! I'm now officially doing "mom things"---never thought that day would happen, but it is about to. I can't wait :)


YAY OCTOBER!!!

schedules

Well, we are about a month into our new routine. Every morning we get up by 6:15 (at the latest) and have the kids at the daycare by 7:15 so that Judah can ride the bus to school. His first week we took him there ourselves, but now he's a pro at the bus riding thing. Not without it's complications though. He had a week or so where he would not get on there and we finally figured out that there were some kids on there making him feel uncomfortable. He seems ok now. He ignored them and they stopped. He doesn't really talk about it anymore. He seems to like his class and his teacher. We've been to the open houses and scavenger hunts and all of that fun parent/kid stuff so far and are excited to see what else will happen this year. Overall, he seems pretty happy. And he's learning SO much!! We are very proud of him!

Mikaela seems to like her "school" too. I had to buy her a backpack so she could be a "big kid" just like her big brother. She pretty much wants to do anything he wants to do. And most of the time it's ok, but i can tell that he gets really frustrated with her sometimes and when it does, it usually blows up and turns into a big ordeal. Otherwise, they do well together. It's definitely a love/hate relationship lately. I figure one day they'll love each other. :)

Last week we had Mikaela's follow up appointment for her eyes. Dr. Johnson (that everyone raves about here in G'ville) seemed to not be worried about her eyes. He told us that they are aligned , which is the reason that most people would normally have to get surgery or patch if they didn't have aligned eyes. So that's a big relief. He also told us that her eyesight would probably get worse (farsightedness) for awhile before it gets better. Even in the 2 months since we went to UK hospital her right eye has changed for the worse. I just hope it doesn't get too awful. She acts like she can see for the most part, so i hope she can! Moms have to worry you know...

On Monday Allen started his new job at the Greer Honda dealership. They really seem to want him there, so I know he's excited about the opportunities he has! I know it'll be better than the place in Spartanburg was. He didn't enjoy it there at all!!

Other than that, nothing new. Ready to settle down and get a place to live. I just wish I could afford to buy a house now.

Kindergarten already?!

How is it that my firstborn, my baby boy is starting kindergarten tomorrow?? For the past five and a half years, all i heard was "Enjoy it while they're little. Time flies." They weren't kidding. It has flown. It feels like not too long ago that Allen and I were bringing him home from the hospital, that we were moving our little family up to Kentucky for the biggest life change ever, that he was learning to walk and talk and all of that "little kid" stuff. And now he is so grown up. He can ride a bike (with training wheels still), he can write his full name, he likes to go fishing with his daddy and play ball with his papas. He is maturing more every day. He definitely misses his friends in Kentucky and he's sad that he can't be with them, but he seems to be ready to move on to the next chapter. He says he's not excited, but i think he's just nervous to be out of his comfort zone. "Big" school is a lot different than the little 14 kid class that he was part of before we moved back home.

Now is this Mama ready? I don't know. I have so many questions/fears/what ifs running through my head.

Will he get along with the other kids?
Will he be nice?
Will he go listen to his teacher and be respectful?
Will he make friends?
Will he miss me (just as much as i miss him)?

It's just so weird. Like watching this little person grow and learn and observe and teach me things, now ready to take on the world in his own little innocent way. I hope he does well. I hope he's nice and he listens and washes his hands after he goes to the bathroom and all of that stuff. I hope Allen and I have prepared him the best that we can. It's so hard to not know. And it's so easy to compare yourself to others. And their parenting techniques. But it's time to let him go. We have prayed for him and we know that he belongs to God. He will take care of our Judahbug.

I can't wait to see how his first days go. I really (really) hope he enjoys it and makes some new friends. And secretly, i hope he kinda misses us too. That's just the mom side of me talking, quietly reflecting on all of the moments that have shaped my son for this next part to his life, and missing him already.

He's going to do great. Now if I can just enjoy every moment as it comes so that it all doesn't feel like such a blur as the first 5 years have. My boy is growing up. Fast.

So all that to say....
Kindergarten here we come! :)

We have jobs!!

A week and then some later.....things are going pretty well. I started work on the 29th and for the most part it went well. A whole lot of meeting new people. My head hurts from all of the people I'm still meeting a week later. But I've started to get to know some fellow crew members. Still don't think it will ever be the same as my old store (I know it won't be the same!)...627 is my first love and everyone there is my family. It will be good here once everyone gets used to each other and the new captain (who is apparently changing alot of things). But it will take some time. Trying to just keep a positive attitude.

Allen has been busy juggling staying home with the kids and searching for a job. Last week he put out a bunch of applications at a bunch of places, with some potentials at Greer Honda, Greenville Audi/Volkswagen, and Spartanburg Volkswagen. He actually got an interview in Spartanburg as a service advisor and yesterday was offered the position. He took it, mainly because it's income. I think ideally he'd love to work at the Audi place (because everyone that works there is a Christian, really good atmosphere, etc) but it's not "available" until January. They seemed genuinely interested in him. And he really liked Honda too because he loves owning a Honda, but that's still a couple weeks away from even an interview because of some training. So.........all that to say, he starts in Spartanburg on the 21st, and if the Honda place offers the right amount in between now and then, he will probably take that one instead. We are just thankful for jobs!!!!! Forgot how hard starting over can be!! But glad we are doing it now and not later.

The kids are doing ok. Judah more so than Sky. She's having a really hard week, asking where her friends are and realizing we aren't on vacation anymore. LOTS of melt downs and tantrums and acting out. It's awful. Judah was a horrible 3 year old, she seems to be following suit. But it will eventually get better. Judah is just ready for kindergarten and is so excited!! I can't believe my boy is going to school!

Until the next major change.

Carolina on my mind.

WE ARE HOME!!!! 

It's weird. Definitely not used to it at all, considering it was only 4 days ago that we trekked down here. We still kinda feel like we are on vacation, but trying to settle in. We had a safe trip down, no issues with the moving truck this time, and we are still trying to recover. I started work at this TJ's yesterday and it went great. I didn't really know what to expect (and was SUPER nervous!), but overall I think I will enjoy working there. I miss my old store though : ( Allen's looking for a job, not much luck yet because he's been taking care of the kids most of the day, but he'll get there. We went "back to school" shopping for Judah lastnight...our small bit of normalcy for the week so far. Can't wait to get into a better routine. But hey, my wild crazy daughter (who, by the way is THREE now?!) went to bed, to SLEEP before 8 tonight. Cannot believe it. That never ever ever in a million years. Count my blessings. Yes.

More updates next time. Now, to sleep.

ch ch changes...

For once the title of my blog entry is accurate to the writing it entails. Lots of changes going on here. First of all let me start by saying that we recently got back from an awesome vacation to Charleston and home. We were able to spend some much needed time with our families and we could just relax. Another friend got married and we found out some of our best friends will be parents for the first time!!! (i'm not jealous in the least!! haha). But back to the whole point of the blog today.

WE ARE MOVING BACK TO SOUTH CAROLINA!!!! YES...FOR REAL!!!!

I'm sure once we make our "facebook official" announcement, people will want to know why we are leaving the church, why we are going back home instead of somewhere else, why we would leave such good jobs that we so love....

Well we feel the need to be with our families. They need us and we need them. For various reasons that I don't need to rant on about on a blog. But we definitely feel peace about it and like it is the right thing to do.

Allen told his boss this past Monday that he would not be staying with the company (a company that has treated him like gold ever since he started there almost 3 years ago). His boss was actually great about it and seemed to really understand. Now, as of right now, Allen doesn't have a job lined up for SC just yet. And surprisingly enough, he/we aren't worried about it. It's meant to be, it will work out. I, on the other hand, have been very thankful for my job and the fact that I will be able to transfer to the Greenville store. I am super nervous, but excited. My current captain, Davey has been so great in helping me with the process and keeping current with their store down there as well. My new store will be getting a new captain the week before I start, so it's going to be a good match i think.

Now, our move date???? JULY 26!!! Less than a month!! We wanted to be able to get Judah settled into a routine and all of that stuff before school starts on August 19th. (Getting all of THAT paperwork is another blog for another day though....i'm stressed!!)

Not too much longer. Can't believe I'm having to say goodbye to all of the people that I love so much up here. Yes, i have cried almost every single day since we decided to actually do this move. But it is for the best. And I can't wait to be home......finally.

summer time!! (finally.)

This is probably the worst I have been at blogging. Just so much going on lately. YES we are still in Kentucky...everyone keeps wanting to know since everyone else has left for the most part. I'm still loving my job at Trader Joes and Allen still loves his job too. We do, however, miss our families very very much. We were actually down in SC for the first time since Christmas (yes, i am aware this is too long to be away!!), and it was awesome to see our families and friends. We got to witness Colt and Lindsey get married, and Allen was the "officiant"....and he did GREAT!!! I was so proud!! :) The kiddos played water guns with my grandma, which was a sight for sore eyes. She was running around with them like she was a kid herself!! So funny. They spent some time running from the geese that have overtaken my parents' backyard as of late, and they also got to play with the ever popular Molly. They had a blast with the grandparents and we had a blast with everyone that we saw as well. Definitely makes me miss home.

I go back and forth constantly. Some times are worse than others. Right now in life we are in this very weird place of being comfortable where we are at right now (in Lexington). It has taken forever to finally FINALLY get to this point in life, but we are here. We love what we do, Judah will be going to the best school around, the church is finally getting back on its feet.We COULD live here forever. BUT we are missing one very important part of our lives: our family. And we are stuck between a rock and a hard place because of this level of comfort. We definitely are not living high and mighty or anything like that, but if we move, we don't want to have to start over like we did when we moved up here. Allen has some health issues that could potentially prevent him from getting the type of job he has now. And plus, he really wants to do what has been in his heart forever: ministry. My situation is a little different in the way that I could transfer to another store (a plus), but would I be able to support the whole family on just my salary until Allen could do what he wanted? I'd ideally like to become a mate at Trader Joe's. A possibility that is not too far off. And coincidentally has a position open in Greenville. Go figure. But do we wait it out and take the chance of it being too late? Or do we just move? Or do we even go back home? Heck if I know. I know what our families would say :) And i miss all of them so much. I think we really just want to make the right decision in the right timing. (And right now i feel like unless God shouts at us from the sky to go, we should stay put). But then again, maybe we should take another risk. Either way, I know that wherever we go next is where we are staying. I'm not moving ever ever again. At least not until I'm old.

We will be going back to visit on Friday. First to Charleston, then back to Greer to see everyone. I can't wait. And yes, Allen already told me that he's going to do his best to convince me to move back while we are down there. I promise I don't need convincing. Just want to be smart in our decisions and the timing of them. I'll be honest, I'm not giving it more than 3 more years. I remember moving when i was little. The years that it didn't matter, and then the age when I really didn't want to leave. So I'm not going past the third grade for Judah. After that, I'm done. DONE.

Here's a few new pics: